Brostrom services open to public

Services for Army 1st Lt. Jonathan Brostrom, a 2002 Damien Memorial School graduate killed July 13, a week before he was scheduled to leave Afghanistan, will be held Thursday at the Holy Family Parish.

The services are open to the public. Visitation at the church, 830 Main St., will begin at 8:30 a.m. Mass will be celebrated from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. The family will hold an honors ceremony with the burial to follow at about 11 a.m. at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe, 45-349 Kamehameha Highway.

Brostrom, 24, was one of nine soldiers killed defending a remote Afghan outpost in the deadliest attack in Afghanistan in three years. Brostrom was a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team based in Europe, which was supposed to leave Afghanistan after completing a 15-month combat tour.

Brostrom's family has designated two charitable foundations to receive donations on his behalf. They include the Jonathan Brostrom Scholarship through the Hawaii Chapter of Military Officers Association of America -- P.O. Box 1185, Kailua, HI 96734 -- and the Fisher House Foundation at fisherhouse.org.

Maui looks to fine owner of rental

KIHEI, Hawaii » Maui County is seeking up to $214,000 in fines from a California woman who has allegedly refused to stop using her Kihei home as a vacation rental.

Prosecutors call it a "landmark case" because it is the first to go to a hearing before the Board of Variances and Appeals.

The county is accusing Stephanie Rager of San Juan Capistrano of continuing to operate and advertise her illegal rental even after she received multiple warnings and a cease-and-desist order a year ago.

The county says she earns several thousand dollars a week for her four-bedroom, 1,895-square-foot home, named Hale Mikoi.

Rager says she stopped renting out the home and lets only friends and family use it.

Rager, who also own other rentals on Maui and the Big Island, is accusing a zoning inspector of harassment and abusing his authority.

Soldiers to reach for hug record

About 1,700 Hawaii Army National Guard soldiers from the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will deploy to Kuwait, but not before they attempt to break a world record.

After a deployment ceremony Aug. 16 at Aloha Stadium, more than 6,000 people will endeavor to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest group hug. The current record was set in Mexico with 6,623 people.

"Our nation is engaged in many challenges of war, and these deploying soldiers are proving their resiliency yet again on behalf of our citizens," Lt. Gov. James Aiona said in a release. "It is only fitting that Hawaii shows its aloha spirit to these true warriors in what will be the world's largest group hug. I encourage all of our citizens to participate."

Slated to leave Hawaii about two days after the ceremony, the soldiers will mobilize to Kuwait after about two months in Fort Hood, Texas.

Ten-year-old Ashley Kakazu came up with the idea of a group hug, and she will serve as the event's organizer. She is asking participants to bring canned-good donations for the Hawaii Foodbank.

For more information, visit www.grouphughawaii.com or attend the ceremony at 11 a.m. Aug. 16 in Aloha Stadium.

Police, Fire, Courts

Star-Bulletin staff

Woman killed after jump from car

A 18-year-old woman died early today after she appeared to have jumped out of a moving car on the H-1 freeway and was run over by another car, police said.

Shortly after midnight, the woman was in the front passenger seat in a two-door silver 2000 Mercury sedan that was Waianae-bound on the H-1 freeway just before the Kamehameha Highway overpass when she appeared to have jumped out of the car, police said. She fell onto the freeway and was possibly knocked unconscious, when she was run over by a tan 1997 four-door Toyota, driven by a 65-year-old man.

The 65-year-old man pulled over onto the shoulder lane and stopped, police said. The person driving the car the woman had been in also stopped. That driver was described as a 26-year-old man, although police did not say how they got that information or the description of the Mercury.

The woman was pronounced dead on the freeway. Police said speed and alcohol did not appear to be factors with regards to the driver who ran over her. The woman, whose identity was not released this morning, is the 28th traffic fatality on Oahu this year, compared with 41 at this time last year.

Search resumes for Kauai hunter

The search for a 21-year-old hunter missing in Kokee since Saturday will continue at about 7 a.m. today, Kauai firefighters said.

Cody Kimura of Lihue was reported missing at about 11:20 p.m. Saturday after going goat hunting with his 15-year-old brother and a friend, a county news release said.

State and county officials launched a ground search for Kimura, walking the Sugi Grove area as Kauai firefighters searched the valleys by helicopter. They suspended their search at dusk.

On Saturday, Kimura, his brother and a friend went hunting at about 2:45 a.m. Kimura left the hunting party at 9:30 a.m. to get an item from their vehicle and never returned, the release said.

The pair searched for Kimura into the night before reporting him missing.

CENTRAL OAHU

Man critically hurt as truck flips over

Police said that at 4:08 a.m. the man was speeding south on Kunia Drive just past Kunia Road when his 2003 truck swerved onto the right shoulder and hit a guardrail. The truck flipped in the air and landed upside down in a gulch west of Kunia Road. The man, who was not using a seat belt, was thrown from the truck and sustained lacerations to his right side and possible head injuries. He was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition. No one else was in the truck.

Police said speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.

WAIKIKI

Former mayor's son in police custody

Former Mayor Frank Fasi's 56-year-old son was charged with second-degree robbery yesterday and remained in police custody on $500,000 bail.

Police said Fasi asked the man, who was sitting on the ground, for his money, then kneed him in the face, took his backpack and walking cane, and fled. About an hour later, the victim saw Fasi at Liliuokalani and Kuhio avenues and identified him to police.

Fasi was arrested on two warrants and suspicion of robbery. He has 37 previous convictions, including numerous drug and theft charges.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Husband a suspect in threat with knife

A 42-year-old Kailua-Kona man was arrested Friday after he allegedly held a knife to his wife's throat.

Police charged Dennis Serbu on Friday with terroristic threatening, abuse of a family member and interfering with reporting an emergency or crime. He was being held over the weekend on $4,100 bail. Police said the woman reported arguing with Serbu on Friday when he choked her, held a knife to her throat and threatened her. He took the phone away as she tried to call 911, police said. The woman fled and called 911 from another location.

CORRECTION

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The driver of a Mercury sedan stopped after an 18-year-old woman jumped from the passenger side of the vehicle as it traveled on the H-1 freeway early yesterday. A “Police/Fire” item above originally said the driver did not stop.